Graphical User Interface Design for Climate Impact Research Data Retrieval

Complex, heterogeneous environmental data sets are produced and stored in many scientific disciplines. For managing complex structured data, database and data warehouse technologies have been established, providing access via standardized interfaces. Nevertheless, there are some obstacles for researchers in applying the full functionality of sophisticated data management systems. Here, graphical user interfaces (GUI) are essential for bridging the gap between such systems and scientific users. However, designing / developing user interfaces for complex, environmental data sets is not trivial, facing user diversity and a variety of tasks. Consequently, for the example of climate impact research, this paper introduces an approach to support data retrieval. We propose tailored solutions for metadata navigation and filtering as well as for visualization and visualization design, and present three tools in combination with lessons learned for GUI design.